The Barns and Farms of Pennsylvania

The landscape definitely changes from Maryland, to Ohio, to Indiana. Our last day driving home from Milwaukee was cloudy and rainy. This was the first time we drove to Milwaukee and back since we moved to DC nine years ago. On the first day, we had to stop at the Subaru dealer to get the exhaust pipe repaired. Our Subaru is eleven years old, but we want to see how long we can keep it going. The rain came and went this day, and the Allegheny mountains were spectacular. It's the farms and barns that got my attention. Some of them were so scenic and picturesque. There seemed to be more red than any other color. And there were signs for dairy farms, different from the other states. All of them had windmills, something not quite so obvious ten years ago. The land was not flat around here, we were on the turnpike rather than the interstate, and thank goodness we had I pass - the same mechanism on the windshield that we got in Illinois all those years ago. It's hard to believe the trip is over because it feels like we were just planning it. But as long as we are able to drive around we intend to continue doing it. I love looking around and taking photos and my husband likes to drive. It's the perfect combination until he needs to get in a nap. But it's well worth the extra time to get from point A to B. 

South Mountain Creamery and Great Falls Creamery

I didn't really pay that much attention to the white boxes sitting in front of the front doors on our walk this morning until I noticed there were more than just a few. They looked to be what I once knew as the old milk boxes that we actually had on our front porch in New England when I was a youngster. I remember them being aluminum, or something shiny like that. On the face of the box was written South Mountain Creamery. So when we got home I looked it up and couldn't believe that people really want their dairy products delivered to their door? It's not only dairy, but meat and juice and bread, etc. I suppose folks who never experienced the real thing out of necessity feel the need to experience it out of I'm not sure what. It reminded me of another creamery sign in Great Falls that we saw a couple days ago. I didn't pay that much attention to it either. So I looked that place up today and saw that it is an ice cream parlor that also happens to sell dairy products in the store. That seemed to make a little more sense. I do remember going out to Michael's dairy for ice cream as a kid - vanilla was my favorite. And dairy farms have a certain appeal. Having lived in Wisconsin for thirty years certainly made us even more aware of cows and dairy products - especially when we visited the state fair. But to go through all the hassle of dairy product delivery in this day and age in glass bottles? I just don't get it - especially when it's in the 90's outside.